Day 5: While the Pacific Northwest can't compete with the showy colours autumn brings to the eastern part of the US, we do have our specialties, one of which is Vine Maple (Acer circinatum). This species of small-leaved maple is rather variable in its response to climate conditions, and its displays appear to be affected by some magical formula which includes temperature, water availability, number of cloudy days and perhaps whether or not the full moon occurred on a Tuesday in July. Whatever it is, I have not been able to deduce the complex sequence of events which sometimes results in a "Red Year" as opposed to a brown one. Red Years can be spectacular. The present season is less than optimum, although this view, directly behind my mailbox, lights up even the darkest days of grey October gloom.
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